Italy's economy ministry announced on Tuesday that an informal agreement had been reached with the European Commission over its budget plan.

Italy's new government, comprised of the far-right Lega party and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, had sought to implement sweeping budget measures that included cutting taxes and establishing universal income. With the proposal Italy was expected to breach EU budget deficit limits, risking punitive action from the bloc.

Polish musician, journalist and European Parliament tour guide Barto Pedro Orent-Niedzielski stood together with several friends, among them Italian journalist Antonio Megalizzi, in front of the music club Les Savons d'Helene, near the Christmas market.

"Barto Pedro Orent-Niedzielski, a French-Polish journalist who was injured in Strasbourg together with Antonio Megalizzi, is no longer alive.

Ferruccio Ferragamo, one of six children of the Italian fashion legend, Salvatore Ferragamo, and today the company’s chairman, began taking his family to Il Borro, an estate in the countryside of Tuscany, 45 minutes north of their home in Florence, in the mid-1980s.

Salvatore Ferragamo, 47, Ferruccio’s son, and his grandfather’s namesake, is CEO of the sprawling enterprise, which involves his sister, Vittoria, who manages the gardens and the village, that includes among its artisans and shops an outlet with clothes designed by Vivia, another sister.

The domination of Facebook by Italy’s two populist political leaders, Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, is revealed in previously unseen data that shows how they exploited video and live broadcasts to bypass the mainstream media and foment discord during the country’s general election.

Their nearest rival on Facebook was Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the small populist far-right party Brothers of Italy, whose posts secured 2.6m Facebook likes and shares.

The deal, which is not legally binding, seeks an international approach to migration that "reaffirms the sovereign rights of states to determine their national migration policy" and asserts the "fundamental" importance of legal migration.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was forced to cancel its migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean this month after repeated battles with Italy.

If you want to get into the traditional spirit and (in the words of the famous yuletide song) roast your chestnuts on an open fire, then be sure to score the skins so they don’t explode, pop them on a shovel, and place them over the hot coals.

According to legend, the tree gained its name after a Queen and her entourage of a hundred knights took shelter under its branches during a storm.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s Nativity With Saints Lawrence and Francis was painted in Palermo, capital of Sicily, in 1609 and stolen 360 years later.

It’s that time of year when the nativity paintings in Europe’s churches and museums get their month in the glow of fairy lights. Printed on Christmas cards, these religious masterpieces might make us pause and think for a moment about their serious themes of life, death, change, hope – and loss.

Project Rights, a collective bringing together various human rights groups, said in a statement: "First of all, we started two years ago criminalising those who save thousands of lives at sea" and ended up "closing ports to boats loaded with survivors." "Today with the Salvini decree, we have abolished humanitarian protection, creating an endless stream of people forced into hiding," it said in a statement.